Long Handle Spoons

A man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell. The Lord said to the man,
"Come, I will show you hell."

They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arm that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible.

"Come, now I will show you heaven," the Lord said after a while. They entered another room, identical to the first -- the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handled spoons. But there everyone was happy and well-nourished. "I don't understand," said the man. "Why are they happy here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?"

The Lord smiled, "Ah, it is simple," he said. "Here they have learned to feed each other."

"Grades" in life

A professor stood before his class of twenty senior organic biology students, about to hand out the final exam.

"I want to say that it's been a pleasure teaching you this semester. I know you've all worked extremely hard and many of you are off to medical school after summer. So that no one gets their GPA messed up because they might have been celebrating a bit too much this week, anyone who would like to opt out of the final exam today will receive a 'B' for the course."

There was much rejoicing in the class as students got up, walked to the front of the class, and took the professor up on his offer. As the last taker left the room, the professor looked out over the handful of remaining students and asked, "Anyone else? This is your last chance."

One final student rose up and opted out of the final.

The professor closed the door and took attendance of those students remaining.

"I'm glad to see you believe in yourself," he said.

"You all get 'A's."

How many have taken the easy way out?

The short road, the easy path, the light load, all lead to lower grades in the school of life.

Stephen L. Talbott on "EVIL"

"I was raised a traditionalist conservative, and one of the rock-solid virtues of that mindset was a vivid awareness that the line between good and evil runs through every individual heart. This, of course, was why one distrusted all schemes for salvation-by-government and favored the notion of checks and balances. No excess of power should be vested in any one place, because no group of people can claim fully to have healed their own hearts of that fundamental schism.

"When we begin to believe that we've fingered the true locus of evil "over there" rather than "in here" -- when the battle between "us" and "them" is equated with the battle between good and evil -- then we have placed ourselves above all evil. This is to make gods of ourselves.

"Yes, we must resist evil in the world -- resist it for all we are worth. We must strive to represent the good against the evil. This endless, internal striving -- never wholly successful, never finished once for all -- is, in fact, the decisive thing. But when the evil turns out, after
all, to be over there, the striving is no longer necessary. It becomes *nothing but* a matter of dialing in the coordinates and calling down the bombs.

"This is how disastrous moral reversal occurs. To focus on the evil over there is to forget its strategic alliance with the evil in oneself, and to forget the evil in oneself is to turn one's own good -- now untethered from modesty and rendered tyrannical -- into a magnified power for evil.

If we follow this path of arrogance, the destruction we call down upon the world may be unparalleled. "

Stephen L. Talbott, Editor of NETFUTURE: Technology and Human
Responsibility, in NETFUTURE, Issue #129, March 12,2002

The Daffodil Principle

The Daffodil Principle:

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come see
the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive
another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."

"How far will we have to drive?"

"Just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read, "Daffodil Garden."

We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn
down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns – great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its
own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn.

"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one."50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was. The Daffodil Principle. For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun -- one bulb at a time -- to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.

Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable (indescribable) magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time -- often just one baby-step at a time – and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way.

"Start tomorrow," she said.

It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"....

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be
complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation, or when we retire.

The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with... and remember that time waits for no one.

So, stop waiting... Until your car or home is paid off Until you get a new car or home Until your kids leave the house Until you go back to school Until you finish school Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs. Until you get married Until you get a divorce Until you have kids Until you retire Until summer Until spring Until winter Until fall Until you die

--Author Unknown

THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.

God and us

Isn't it strange how a $100 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to the temple, but not enough when you go shopping?

Isn't it strange how endless an hour seems when we are serving God, but way too short when we watch a football game?

Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at the mosque and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange that you can't find things to say when you're praying, but you have no trouble talking to a friend?

Isn't it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of Bhagavad Gita, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games, but they do whatever possible to sit in the last row during the sermon?

Isn't it strange how we need to know about an event at the church 2-3 weeks in advance so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust our calendar for other events at the last minute?

Isn't it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others, but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but question the words in the Bible?

Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

Isn't it strange how jokes are forwarded right away, but messages about God, we think twice before we share them with others?

I've learned.........By Andy Rooney

If you will take the time to read these. I promise you'll come away with an enlightened perspective. The subjects covered affect us all on a daily basis! They're written by Andy Rooney, a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words. Enjoy.......


I've learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.


I've learned.... That when you're in love, it shows.


I've learned.... That just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.


I've learned.... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.


I've learned.... That being kind is more important than being right.


I've learned.... That you should never say no to a gift from a child.


I've learned.... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.


I've learned.... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.


I've learned.... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.


I've learned.... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.


I've learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.


I've learned.... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.


I've learned.... That money doesn't buy class.


I've learned.... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.


I've learned... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.


I've learned.... That the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?


I've learned.... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.


I've learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.


I've learned.... That love, not time, heals all wounds.


I've learned.... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.


I've learned.... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.


I've learned.... That there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.


I've learned.... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.


I've learned.... That life is tough, but I'm tougher.


I've learned.... That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.


I've learned.... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.


I've learned.... That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.


I've learned.... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.


I've learned.... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.


I've learned.... That I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.


I've learned.... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.


I've learned.... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.


I've learned ... That it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life threatening situation.


I've learned.... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.